Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
See Batman (disambiguation) for other uses of the word "Batman." Return of the Joker is a direct-to-video animated feature based on the Batman Beyond series. It is noteworthy for resolving the conflict between the Joker and the original Batman, as well as introducing the Joker into the Batman Beyond timeframe. Also resolved was the fate of the second Robin, Tim Drake. While the feature is quite popular among DCAU fans, many of whom cite it as the animated universe's storytelling apotheosis, its release was plagued by controversy. Scenes dubbed too intense for young audiences were altered or outright removed from the film's first incarnation, in some cases drastically changing the mood of a scene, and when fan unrest led to an uncut version being released over a year later, it was given a PG-13 rating. Summary :The following summary is based on the original uncensored cut of the film. See below for details of elements altered after censorship. The Return A gang of Jokerz launch a raid on Gotham Shipping to steal a large piece of electronic technology. The robbery is interrupted by the arrival of Batman. A fight ensues which turns into a pursuit in the skies of Gotham City. One of the three helicraft the Jokerz are using to carry away the equipment, piloted by Bonk, takes off to fight Batman, leaving the equipment and the other craft to crash. Batman overcomes Bonk, and his craft crashes. The equipment crashes to the ground, but Chucko manages to retrieve its memory chip and escape with the others before the equipment explodes. Terry is puzzled why the Jokerz would be stealing advanced technology. Bruce Wayne theorizes that they're engaged in industrial espionage. Terry sees a news report that Wayne has announced his return to active leadership of Wayne Enterprises, to the disappointment of acting Operations Manager and rival-for-corporate-leadership Jordan Pryce. Terry resolves to wait for the Jokerz to make their next move. berates his goons.]] The Jokerz return to their lair, an abandoned candy factory. Chucko offers the memory chip, which their leader, hidden in the shadows, angrily smashes with his fist. As this leader berates them for their incompetence, Bonk is angered: "Your day is over, old man; even if you are who you say you are, and personally, I think you're a fake!" The leader responds by pulling a gun on Bonk. Terrified, Bonk takes back his statements, but the leader pulls the trigger – and a comical "BANG!" flag pops out. Bonk breathes a sigh of relief – and the leader pulls the trigger again, shooting the banner into Bonk like a dart, and killing him with Joker toxin. The leader steps out of the shadows, revealing himself to be the original Batman's old archenemy, the Joker. The terrified remaining Jokerz swear their allegiance to him, then Ghoul begins searching for places to acquire a new piece of equipment. can't believe his eyes.]] Wayne and Terry arrive at an evening gala at which Bruce plans to inaugurate his return. Said speech is immediately interrupted by familiar hysterical laughter. The spliced half-hyena Joker Woof then jumps into the crowd of spectators. During the distraction, Chucko and Ghoul break into the Wayne Enterprises lab downstairs, stealing the desired technology. Up above, Wayne easily overcomes Woof with his cane, but has difficulty with the newly arrived Dee Dee twins, and is down on the ground when the Joker makes a dramatic emergence onto the stage, to Wayne's horror. The now-costumed Terry returns, but is tied up with Woof as Joker and Dee Dee board a hovercraft. When Terry tries to pursue, Joker detonates a series of explosives, causing further chaos. Batman is forced to save civilians rather than pursue. seeks answers from Barbara.]] On the way home Terry wonders aloud that the Joker seems pretty vigorous for a man who, like Wayne, should be in his 80's. Wayne simply replies "Shut up and drive". In another part of Gotham, the now middle-aged Tim Drake sees a news report on the Joker's re-appearance, and is horrified by it. Undaunted by Bruce's aloofness, Terry tries Commissioner Barbara Gordon for information, and receives much the same reply: that it isn't his business and that he shouldn't concern himself with it. As Terry leaves, he passes Drake, who has his own appointment with Barbara. In the Batcave, Bruce runs a voice comparison between the "Joker" at the ceremony and his old recordings: they are identical. Terry returns, and says that the Joker is the one of Batman's old enemies that Bruce never talks about. He asks how it's possible that Joker could still be alive, and Bruce says it's impossible: he died years ago. "I was there." calls it quits.]] Terry concludes that Joker was planning a crime so heinous that Wayne was forced to kill him. Wayne does not respond, but tells Terry that he wants him to hand in the Batsuit. He's avenged his father's death, and so he has no need to continue, and Bruce was wrong to "force this life" upon him. Terry refuses, saying that fighting crime as Batman is what makes him a worthwhile person, after years as an irresponsible, lawless teenager. "It's what I want, Bruce." Wayne responds "Stupid kid. You don't know what you want. None of you ever did!" Terry throws the Batsuit at Wayne and leaves in anger. finds Bruce in an gruesome scenario.]] Later on, as Terry is dancing with his girlfriend Dana at a nightclub, he is attacked by the Jokerz. At the same time, the Joker himself attacks Bruce in the Batcave. Dana is injured, but Terry manages to send the Jokerz running. Realizing that the Jokerz, or their boss, must know his secret identity, Terry rushes to Wayne Manor. Terry returns to the Batcave to find the words "Ha, Ha Ha" scribbled across the floor of the Batcave in red, and immediately runs to find Bruce, slowly laughing himself to death from Joker venom. Terry finds a tube of anti-venom and injects Bruce, who falls unconscious. Revelation is abducted.]] Unsure who else to turn to, Terry calls Barbara in for help. As she ministers to Bruce, she tells Terry the true story: Some forty years earlier, the second Robin, Tim Drake, had been kidnapped by Harley Quinn and the Joker. After three weeks, Joker sent Batman and Batgirl a clue that would lead them to the place where Tim Drake was being held--the original Arkham Asylum (The old building had been half destroyed and the asylum had been moved to a new location). tortures Robin for information.]] Upon their arrival, the Joker explained that he and Harley were "getting on" in years, and it was time to think about a family. And since Batman "always had a few spare kids" tagging along, he'd "adopt" one of them. He then revealed Tim, who had been brainwashed into a miniature version of himself. Joker took off with Batman in pursuit, while Barbara fought Harley through the ruins of Arkham. In the fight, Harley fell off a cliff into a pit, disappearing. Arriving in the asylum's old operating theater, which Joker had converted into a cinema, Batman saw "home movies" of how Joker tortured and brainwashed Tim. From his hiding place, Joker narrated the story, saying that Tim held out for a long time but finally broke down and revealed all of Batman's secrets, including his identity. :"It's true, Batsy, I know everything. And kind of like the kid who peeks at his Christmas presents, I must admit, it's sadly anticlimactic. Beneath all the 'sturm und Batarangs', you're just a little boy in a playsuit, crying for Mommy and Daddy! It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic... oh, what the heck, I'll laugh anyway. HA HA HA HA HA!" meets his demise.]] Finding his hiding place, Batman engaged Joker in a brutal fight, but Joker managed to get the upper hand, disabling Bruce with a knife in his leg. As Bruce lay helpless, Joker tossed a gun to Tim, telling him to "make Daddy proud – deliver the punchline." Tim, instead, shot Joker dead, and then broke down completely. Bruce and Barbara buried the Joker under Arkham, and took Tim to Leslie Thompkins, who helped him back to sanity over the course of the next year. The only other people who knew what happened were James Gordon, who helped cover the incident up, Bruce's butler Alfred Pennyworth and Dick Grayson. reminisces old times.]] After Tim recovered, Batman forbade him from ever being Robin again. Tim left, and eventually married, fathered two children and re-started his career as a communications engineer. Terry feels sorry for Tim, but says he is still the most likely connection to the now-returned Joker. As Batman, he questions Drake, who denies any involvement and expresses resentment about his past life as Robin: all of them – Barbara, Dick, and himself – gave it everything they had, but it was never enough for Bruce's impossible standards. Tim even had a vain hope that one day he would succeed Bruce as Batman. "Capes, costumes, playing heroes – it was kid's stuff! In the end, Bruce probably did me a favor!" saves Jordan Pryce.]] Finding Drake a dead-end, Terry then suspects Jordan Pryce. However, Terry finds the Jokerz on Pryce's yacht, trying to kill him. He rescues Pryce before a giant laser beam from a satellite destroys the boat. Although Pryce is not the Joker, Batman plays a recording of the conversation between Pryce and the Jokerz, revealing that Pryce has been helping the Jokerz steal the technology, in exchange for them trying to kill Wayne. Pryce is arrested. makes an unsettling deduction.]] Terry returns to the Batcave, frustrated with his inability to solve the case. Bruce appears, having partially recovered. He confesses that he didn't want Terry going up against the Joker, even if he is an impostor, out of the fear that something similar to what happened to Tim would happen again. Looking around the Batcave, Terry notices that only the Robin costume was deliberately damaged in the Joker's attack on the Batcave. Remembering Tim's resentment, Terry deduces that Tim is behind the Joker. The stolen technology, when utilized by a communications expert, could form a transmitter allowing him to hijack a defense satellite — the same kind that destroyed the yacht. Terry confronts Tim at his job site, but is lured into a trap. Escaping in the Batmobile, he is then chased through Gotham by another giant laser beam. He tracks the Joker to an abandoned candy factory. He is attacked by the Jokerz, but manages to fight them off. Inside, he finds Drake, unconscious. Awakening, Drake appears to be re-living the trauma of his kidnapping, and of killing Joker. Terry is concerned, but then Drake turns on him, disabling him with an electrical device. To his and Bruce's horror, Drake then bursts into hysterical laughter, and transforms into the Joker. The Joker reveals the truth: using stolen genetics technology, the Joker copied his consciousness and DNA onto a microchip and implanted it in Tim Drake's brain while Tim was his prisoner. He's had to remain dormant inside Tim's brain for most of the past years, but has been gradually getting stronger. Whenever the chip takes control of Tim, he transforms into the Joker. Soon, the Joker will take complete control of Tim's body. The Joker prepares a satellite strike on Gotham, beginning with Wayne Manor and including Dana's hospital and Terry's mother's house. But before he can fire, Terry sics Ace on him and uses the distraction to destroy the beam's guidance system. The beam then heads toward the factory. takes on Batman.]] The Joker attempts to escape, but Terry seals the factory, and he and the young Dark Knight face off in a final confrontation. This Joker is a much tougher physical combatant than his old self, and more than a match for the young Batman; and having access to Tim's memories gives him knowledge of "every trick the original Batman and Robin knew at their peak." is defeated once again.]] Terry soon changes his battle plan after Bruce informs him that Joker "likes to talk": hiding in the rafters, he plays mind games with the Joker, taunting him about his obsession with Batman and his lameness as a comedian, sending his opponent into a crazed rage. A furious Joker throws a handful of grenades at his opponent, sending Terry crashing to the floor. The Joker pins him to the ground, pulls off his mask and begins choking him. Terry capitalizes on the Joker's distraction and destroys the microchip with Joker's own electrical joy buzzer. Tim Drake reverts to his old self. Terry escapes with Tim and Ace before the satellite destroys the factory, taking the satellite jammer with it and killing the beam. visits an old friend.]] In the city jail, the Dee Dee twins are revealed to be the twin granddaughters of the aging Harley Quinn, who is seen bailing them out while lamenting what disappointments they are. Barbara visits Tim in the hospital, assuring him that she's covering up for the Joker's crimes, of which he is completely innocent. Terry also comes to visit, and they are all surprised to see Bruce there, saying that that is where he should be. The three old heroes mend their fences. Terry decides to go, but both Tim and Bruce tell him that he is truly worthy of the Mantle Of The Bat. Terry dons the Batsuit once again and flies off into the heart of Gotham City. Cast Censorship The movie was initially released in the midst of the backlash against violence in movies and video games aimed at children that followed the Columbine High School massacre; as a result, the movie was substantially re-edited shortly before release to tone down the violence. Many of the changes were controversial, particularly those made to a key scene in which the Joker is killed. The original unedited version has been released as "The Original Uncut Version." The following are some changes that were made in the edited version: * The opening fight sequence is trimmed, cutting out a second Dee Dee kick and completely redoing the entire Batman/Dee Dee sequence. * Lots of white flashes have been added to the action sequences where there were previously none. Additionally, combinations of punches have been mostly trimmed down to one punch. For example: **Woof slashes the guard once now instead of twice. **Batman no longer punches Ghoul in the gut; he just uppercuts him into the dish. **There is a 360-degree fight sequence in the opening battle that has also been removed, where Batman fends off the Jokerz one by one. **Later on in the club, Terry's attack on Ghoul is cut to a flash and Terry running away while Ghoul falls. *When Bruce throws the Batarang, it appears as though he's simply pleased that he can still throw and catch the weapon, instead of using it to decapitate a Two-Face dummy. * Seat belts are added to Terry and Bruce as they drive home after their first meeting with the new Joker as well as in the chase scenes in the Batmobile. * Bonk is not shot with Joker's flag-spear gun, but instead given a dose of Joker laughing gas, taking his implied death off-screen. Because of this, the whole scene following Bonk's death is heavily edited, as it would make no sense. * The club fight is changed: the sequence where Chucko punches Terry while he is being held helpless by Dee Dee is cut out; he just goes for his gun and says "Slag him!" * When Terry enters the Batcave to find it demolished by the Joker, the letters 'HA! HA!' written across the floor are changed in color from red to purple, probably to assure the viewer it is written in spray paint rather than Bruce's blood. * During a montage where Batman and Batgirl comb the underworld looking for clues about Robin's disappearance, Batgirl talks to a nicely-dressed man and woman instead of two scantily clad women, clearly intended to be prostitutes, on a street corner. These two women appeared in The New Batman Adventures as Batgirl's "sources," in the episode "The Ultimate Thrill". (The blonde is based on an early Black Canary character design later seen in ) * In the flashback, Batman frees himself from the Joker's bonds with a knife, then throws that knife at the Joker, who ducks at the last second. This scene is cut out of the edited version. * More than half of the "Our Family Memories" home movie is cut out, only showing Robin tied up and struggling, and cutting the scene where the Joker opens the barbecue lids, picks up the electrodes, and electrocutes Robin. *After Batman smashes through the glass of the projector room, he punches Joker and traces of blood fly from Joker's mouth; all other blood in the film was removed. Notably, in the next shot, Joker is not bleeding. * Originally, Joker disables Batman by slashing a knife across his chest and then stabbing him in the leg. In the edited version, he just punches him. However, if one looks closely at the Joker's hand, the knife handle is still visible in the edited version. * The Joker's death scene is replaced with an entirely different one: Joker tosses Tim a gun meant to spray him with Joker gas, meant to "make Batman one of us." Instead, Tim drops the gun and pushes Joker into a room with water on the floor, where he accidentally hits an electrical switch and is electrocuted to death off-screen. The gun's positioning and appearance during this edited sequence is inconsistent. * Barbara's line about burying the Joker beneath Arkham is removed. * A lot of dialogue is changed as well; words implying killing or torture are changed: *Some slight profanity is also removed: * In the scene where the satellite laser chases the Batmobile, it blasts an unmarked, dark, seemingly empty building. Originally, it was a lit movie theater. In the edited version, the word "cineplex" can be seen exploding out of the wreckage in the last few frames of the shot. * The introduction to the scene on the Wayne Enterprises yacht between Jordan Pryce and his female friend is excised. * When Ace watches part of a Looney Tunes episode on the TV where a dog thinks he killed Bugs Bunny, the dog on TV says "I don't deserve to live!" over and over instead of moving on to saying "I wish I were dead!" twice. Additionally, some scenes were not included in either version; see '''Comic Adaptation' and Behind the Scenes, below.'' Continuity *Producer Bruce Timm has reportedly stated that the events in the flashback take place "at the end" of the current DCAU timeline – i.e., after the events chronicled in (ending with the episode "Destroyer") and before the events of (beginning with the episode "Rebirth.") It has been suggested that the traumatic event caused Batman to sever his ties not only with his immediate partners, but also with Superman and the rest of the Justice League. *The flashback sequence takes place during the continuity of , after Dick Grayson has left Gotham City to become Nightwing, and Bruce is aided by Tim Drake and Batgirl. * When Terry speculates about possible explanations for the Joker's longevity, he mentions "suspended animation due to floating around in a frozen block of ice?" This is a possible reference to Mr. Freeze, who was last seen in the episode "Cold Comfort" after his robotic body was trapped in a giant glacier. Somehow, Freeze's head was retrieved by Wayne-Powers, as shown in the episode "Meltdown." *When Bruce is checking the future Joker's voice against that of the past Joker, the video footage in his records is a newly-animated version of a segment from the episode "Holiday Knights." *Harley Quinn's survival of her fall has been attributed to her injection with a stamina inducer concocted by Poison Ivy. * The film appears to be set after the events of "King's Ransom," when Paxton Powers has been arrested, and thus allowed Bruce to regain control of Wayne-Powers. * When Terry runs into the Batcave and sees the giant "HA! HA! HA! letters spray-painted on the floor, he gasps and whispers, "Please God, no." This is a reference to "Rebirth" when Terry came home and found a similar tableau at the scene of his father's murder. * In the episode "Joyride," the Joker's skeletal remains are seen in the mineshaft where Bruce and Barbara buried him while two characters are exploring the ruins of Arkham Asylum. * At the end of the episode "Wild Cards", Joker is rendered catatonic by Ace. His recovery from that state is not explained. * The Jokerz introduced in the film re-appear in "The Once and Future Thing Part Two: Time, Warped," the first season finale of . In that episode, they are henchmen of Chronos, and have been updated with cybernetic enhancements and radically advanced weapons. Also, Bonk is alive and well. * In the episode "Epilogue," it is revealed that the genetics technology Joker used had been stolen from Project Cadmus, possibly at the same time he freed Ace and the other members of the Royal Flush Gang. Comic Adaptation A comic book adaptation of the film was released. It was largely based on the original version, except for the Joker's death scene, which matched the edited version. This led to inconsistency, where the rest of the comic referred to the Joker being shot instead of electrocuted. * ROTJ Page Comparison The comic also includes several scenes that didn't make into either version: * Bruce visits the ruins of Arkham to find clues about the Joker's return. He is unknowingly followed by Terry. * In the flashback, Batman interrogates Penguin about Joker and Robin's whereabouts. Soundtrack The DVD's special features include a music video "Crash (The Humble Brothers Remix)" by Mephisto Odyssey & Static-X. Behind The Scenes * Paul Dini makes a cameo during the first few minutes of the movie. * Terry briefly suspects Jordan Pryce of being the Joker. In a red herring, Pryce looks just like the Joker without make-up and is also voiced by Mark Hamill. * Ghoul is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, who voices several other characters in , and Flash on and . Rosenbaum reportedly modeled his voice on that of actor Christopher Walken. * In the commentary, the producers remark that Chucko's appearance is based on a friend of theirs, who came to a Halloween party dressed in a similar outfit, humorously titled "Sicko the Clown." * Delia & Deidre Dennis ("Dee Dee") are shown to be the granddaughters of Harley Quinn, but it has been confirmed that they are not related to the Joker. * Both Woof and Ace are voiced by Frank Welker, a veteran voice actor whose specialty is animal characters. * Although Harley was originally set to be killed in the flashback sequence, she was "allowed" to survive and be shown surviving into old age. Paul Dini included this last scene because of his displeasure at being asked to kill off what he felt was one of his biggest contributions to the Batman mythos; Bruce Timm chose to retain it because he felt it provided some necessary comic relief. *Some aspects were not included in either version of the movie: **After being shot, Bonk's corpse was to be seen throughout the rest of the movie in the background, twitching. However, the producers were asked to leave it out early in the film's development. **In the "home movies" shown by Joker, his apron was originally going to say "Kill the Cook", rather then "Kiss the Cook". **Likewise, the picnic table was supposed to be set with surgical tools and sharp knives, rather then the more innocuous bagels, plungers, and cream cheese. Cultural References * When Terry speculates about possible explanations for the Joker's longevity, he mentions "suspended animation due to floating around in a frozen block of ice?" This is a possible homage to Marvel Comics's Captain America. * The orbital weapon commandeered by the Joker is a homage to the Satellite Orbital Laser in the anime film Akira (just as the bikes that the Jokerz ride in are an homage to the Clowns motorcycle gang from that film). The film's animation director had previously worked on the original sequence in "Akira." * Pipe-Bomber Luke Helder attempted to make a "smiley face" pattern out of his targets across America, similar to the Joker's attempt with the satellite beam. Goofs *On the DVD of the edited version, the scene selection menu shows a screenshot from the Batcave in which the giant "HA! HA! HA!" letters are still red instead of purple. *In the flashback, when Tim pulls the trigger on the spear gun the first time, the flag itself was hanging on the far end of the spear. However, when Tim shoots Joker with the spear gun, the "BANG" flag should be the first end in Joker's heart, as it was to Bonk, but The Joker's flag is pointing out like a real flag. Quotes Category:DCAU series Category:Feature Films